I've been closely watching the news about the massive flooding throughout the Midwest -- I grew up in eastern Iowa, and some of the hardest-hit places very near to my hometown of Dubuque.
I talked to my dad this weekend, who told me the vast majority of the people affected don't have flood insurance. (My dad, who sells insurance for a living, is in the know about such things.) The most flooded Iowa towns aren't right on the Mississippi. They're in a 500-year floodplain. Wikipedia tells me that means there's a 0.2% chance of these areas flooding in any given year. So it's not surprising that people aren't insured for water damage like this, and are really going to be hurting financially.
I'm not going to attempt a "flooding is a feminist issue" post. But with my personal connections to the areas affected, I felt remiss in not mentioning it.
Click here to donate to flood relief efforts.
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It's indeed pretty bad - I'm lucky enough to live on a hill and be safe, but I'm in Iowa City and you pretty much can't get anywhere. My friend's flying out and has to go to Des Moines to get a flight because all the roads to Cedar Rapids are closed.
a bit of a tangential fem connex: years and years ago, i saw a great Louise Nevelson exhibit at the University of Iowa Art Museum. Her sculptures - often black or white, some made of found objects, were spectacular and looked great in that space - located right on the river. Hoping that they got their collections out before the deluge...
All the art from the museum was moved before the flood. The university president said they did it secretly, so they wouldn't have to worry about getting extra security. So far as I've heard there are sixteen university buildings flooded or in danger of flooding, and I know at least three that were in danger did indeed flood.
So far, every place I lived in the three years I was there, and my class building (EPB) flooded. It really breaks my heart, especially when I think about having class outside the English building during the summer, sitting under the big, beautiful trees and enjoying the day while we discussed modern literature. There really isn't a better city, at least to me.
My husband's family is from out that way, De Witt and Grand Mound. He's actually out there right now on business, but he also spent a big chunk of this weekend helping with sandbagging places against the flood. He says it really is bad out there. And also what Ann said is true - the majority don't have flood insurance. Most of the corn crops hadn't gotten into the ground yet. It will be interesting to see if anyone is able to get much of a crop off this year or if it is going to be soy beans, if anything.
I love it out there.
My city was flooded so bad that people were jetskiing on the streets. Of course, the stupid fools didn't realize that they were causing waves that were getting into people's houses and making the flooding worse. I lucked out because my apartment is on the second floor, but the basement got six inches of water. Some people had up to six feet of water in their basements and their first floors were ruined along with a lot of automobiles. I've never seen anything like it in my entire life.